


Share a table, Win a friend!

by leeraiii



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Carlos is a Dork, Cecil gets flustered so easily, Cecil is a Dork, M/M, accidental pick up lines, also this is an ice cream parlor au, awkward flirting attempts, or are they really accidental?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-18
Updated: 2013-11-18
Packaged: 2018-01-02 00:43:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1050503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leeraiii/pseuds/leeraiii
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alternatively titled "Cecil used 'Awkward Flirting Attempts'! It is very effective. Really. Go ask Carlos."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Share a table, Win a friend!

**Author's Note:**

> Written for tumblr user hauntednightvale. Helped me with the writing block!

Cecil frequented a local ice cream parlor. At first it had been because the establishment sold his favorite flavors, then it was because he learned that the place was usually quiet during his vacant periods and it was a nice reprieve from the university’s busy and noisy walls. Then, one day, one beautiful perfect day he saw a perfect beautiful boy.

Ok. Well. It was not a perfect, beautiful day. Cecil would have to admit that. The sky had been washed-out and gray all morning but now it was raining so hard the ice cream parlor was getting packed as more and more people ducked under its awning and even more entered to get away from the cold unrelenting rain.

Some people ordered so as not to appear rude. There was a group of friends sharing a large order at one side of the shop regardless of how cold the weather was outside, the group yelling out different kinds of toppings that they wanted into their ice cream. Another smaller group of girls ordered individually after the earlier group and scuttled to another corner of the shop. It wasn’t swarming with people, but Cecil had been so used to the quiet shop that he couldn’t help but take in all the hustle and bustle around him.

He had been so busy following a classmate he knew from World Lit with his eyes that he didn’t notice the windchime by the entrance tinkling when a new customer came in. It was weird sitting alone, Cecil thought to himself. He didn’t mind it when the shop was quiet, but now that it was filled with people that there were hardly any vacant seats left, he immediately noticed how lonely he was. He was just about to hail the World Lit classmate over when she sat down in a loveseat with a few other girls and boys right after she turned a corner. He dropped his raised hand and almost gutted an approaching student that stood beside his table. 

He lifted his eyes and felt his heart sink down to his stomach only to bounce back up, probably trampoline-ing off of his intestines and then basically pinball-ing all around his other organs until it finally lodged itself on his throat. That would explain why he suddenly couldn’t speak and the only thing that he actually managed to croak out was “Is it Christmas?”

Yeah, ok.  _Wow._  His head was probably not getting enough blood pumped in there, too. He should get a doctor to look at it ASAP. “Are you a doctor?”

 _Fucking shit, Cecil. Shut your goddamn mouth._  He shoved a mouthful of ice cream to stop the word vomit currently raining from his mouth and winced when his brain froze along with his tongue.

 "W-were you trying to pull two different pick-up lines or was there a punch-line in there somewhere that shot past my head?" The student at fault for Cecil’s predicament stuttered, a touch of lovely red dusting his brown cheeks and the tips of his ears. His beautiful  _beautiful_  thick dark hair was matted to his head, probably from the rain outside. The curls stuck up in different angles, a few locks that were not plastered to his forehead and glasses poking him in the corners of his wide brown eyes. He was cradling his order and a few books close to his chest and they were thankfully dry. In fact, they were drier than the boy who held them.

Cecil catalogued all of these observations into his still squawking mind but it was the small hesitant grin the student threw him that shot the metaphorical arrow to the heart currently stuck on his throat.

"Oh, no." Cecil started, feeling the blood rush to this cheeks. "I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. It’s just that you caught me off guard and when that happens the filter between my mouth and my head sort of just high-tails it out of its post screaming and I just- I- I- I-" Cecil shut his mouth and cleared his throat, trying to reign himself in. "No, those weren’t pick-up lines, I’m so sorry."

 "Oh," the student blinked, "Well if that’s the case: ‘No.’ to both questions. Although if you need a doctor…?"

 Cecil vigorously shook his head. “No, no. I’m fine. I just- Put foot in mouth.”

The student quirked his lips at him, obviously amused but did not know what to do in the situation. Heck, Cecil didn’t blame him. The brunet shifted on his feet and cleared his throat. “I’m sorry for bothering you but do you have company?” Cecil quirked an eyebrow which he shouldn’t have done because that made the student all the more nervous. “The shop is packed a-a-and this is the only vacant seat and my apartment is still a few blocks away from here and I don’t have an umbrella so I have to wait the storm out and-“

"Sure!” Cecil interrupted before the stranger popped a gasket. “No, it’s perfectly alright! Please, take a seat."

 The student shot him a grateful grin and sat, putting his books and order of vanilla ice cream with rainbow sprinkles down and withdrawing his laptop from the messenger bag he carried with him.

Cecil, not comfortable with silence when it was obvious he had company, leaned forward. “Do you go to the university?” He asked, shoving more ice cream into his mouth and munching on the KitKat bars he had added as toppings.

The student looked up and gazed at Cecil from over the lid of his laptop. He studied him for a moment and then shrugged. “Yeah. Physics Major.”

"Oh." Cecil said, but then blurted out, "You can major in my heart."

Wide brown eyes widened even further and Cecil swore he heard a quiet disbelieving snort from behind the laptop lid.

"Ugh." Cecil buried his face in his hands and groaned. "I’m so sorry."

"Are you  _sure_  you aren’t doing it on purpose?” Cecil peeked from between his fingers, expecting to see an offended expression on the stranger’s face but was met with smiling amused eyes.

"I don’t know. I just-" Cecil sighed and waved his hands around, "I’m a Mass Communications major."

The eyes twinkled, “I don’t think that answers my question but I’ll take it.” It looked like the stranger was more comfortable now that he had a laptop lid to hide behind.

"Do you have a name?" Cecil ventured.

"Yes." His gaze flicked to the side before meeting Cecil’s over the laptop, "Do you?"

"Yeah. It’s Cecil."

"Hello, Cecil." The student responded but said no more. He only grinned and went back to whatever he was doing on the laptop.

Cecil waited and frowned when it was apparent the stranger wasn’t going to say anything else. “Aren’t you going to give me yours?”

Mirthful brown eyes appraised him for a moment before it returned to the screen. “No,” Physics Major deadpanned.

Cecil’s jaw dropped, affronted and a smite offended. “What? I-!” Cecil cleared his throat. “Why?”

The stranger grinned. “In this time and age, names are awfully valuable assets. You don’t just go around giving people your name. That’s like looking for trouble.”

 ”Yeah, well.” Cecil sniffed. “I gave you a fake name.”

The stranger actually had the audacity to chuckle. How dare he chuckle so charmingly, so adorably! “Sure, Cecil.”

Damn, he liked the way he said his name.

"Well, you must be trouble then. Because I’m definitely looking for you." Well, _ha,_  two can play at this game!  If this was his way of flirting then Cecil was not backing down. He had 3 years of mass communication studies and nights upon nights of cheesy chick flicks up his sleeve.

The stranger almost swallowed his plastic spoon.

Awww, he choked on ice cream cutely too.

"Where do you keep pulling these from?" Mister I’m A Physics Major asked after he successfully coughed the spoon and vanilla ice cream out of his lungs.

"I’ll tell you if you tell me your name."

Physics Major cocked his head to the side and tapped the spoon on his chin. “I don’t think it’s worth it.”

"I could tell you how to divide by zero instead."

Physics Major blinked, pretended to think about it before nodding. “I suppose that’s a worthy bargain. The secret to the universe in exchange for my name.”

"I’m on an awfully generous mood today.” Cecil said, examining his nails. “And look, the stars have aligned just right for you."

Physics Major chuckled, “My name is Carlos.”

"Carlos?"

"It’s a fake name like yours." Carlos braved another scoop of ice cream.

Cecil hummed. “I see. Shall I give you the fake answer to the universe as well?”

"If you pull another pick-up line I am leaving this table and absconding out of the place."

 ”Oh dear, not out into the pouring rain?” Cecil gestured towards the windows that showed nothing but sheets upon sheets of dreary gray, making his expression as innocent as possible.

 Carlos glanced at him, spoon in mouth. “Ah, I am at a disadvantage.”

 "If it helps, I can stop calling you Mister Physics Major in my head now."

 Carlos’ nose crinkled adorably and Cecil looked on transfixed. “That sounds snotty.”

 "You’re plenty snotty." Cecil smiled as he said it, though. And when Carlos chuckled he knew he hadn’t accidentally offended the man.

 "Ouch. Well, that’s gonna take a while to heal."

 "Don’t worry, I’m a professional."

 “Professional what?”

 “Nurse.”

 Carlos quirked a dark eyebrow at him. “I thought you were a MassComm major.”

 "I lied.” Cecil grinned, “You just can’t go around giving out your course to strangers. That’s like asking for trouble." Let it be said that Cecil had tried so hard to keep a straight face.

 Carlos stared at him, mirroring his straight face as well. They didn’t know who cracked first but after a while they were both grinning like idiots at each other over the laptop lid.

 "I suppose your real name is Trouble?"

 "Ah! I’m caught red-handed!" Cecil exclaimed theatrically. "My second fake name! Revealed! But alas, Carlos has been suspected of being the infamous Mr. Trouble as well! And I just knew the minute he walked-"

"If you start quoting Taylor Swift at me so help me God I am throwing you into jail."

"I didn’t know you were into kinky roleplay Carlos."

Carlos choked on his spoon for the second time in the span of 5 minutes and Cecil bought him a bottle of water in exchange for almost killing him the second time around.


End file.
